Talking with children about the coronavirus
We can only do our best and then some more when it comes to a problem like the spread of a pandemic. That said, we should get things in proportion when it comes to these types of things. Around children I believe that what you tell them should be on a need-to-know...
Our climate problem
We can only do our best and then some more when it comes to our climate problem. That said, we should be careful to avoid repeatedly exposing children to events over which they, as individuals, have only limited ability to make a difference. Over-exposing children to...
Parent-led guidance for developing grit in children
I’ve been reading about how childhood anxiety can be exacerbated by how parents model their own anxiety to a child. Indeed, according to what I’m hearing from school leaders, more parents are coming up to schools, over smaller and smaller matters. However, the...
A parent-led method for managing a child’s anxiety
My wife, who is a special education teacher, is seeing an increasing number of children presenting at the learning centre in the school where she works saying that they aren’t coping and with more feeble excuses for not being in class. These are students who are...
Are we watching the unfolding of a public health emergency?
Many of my middle-aged friends and colleagues are seeing more and more parents not looking at their infants, compared to a time before devices came into being. Parents not engaging with their children is a twofold issue: on the one hand, parents appear distracted by...
Mental wellness and resilience
Hardly a day goes by without a report in the media about the rising rates of anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses in children and young people. The causes are, no doubt, complex and varied. We live in a busy world, with many demands on children and their...
What the heck is going on with young people?
Currently three members of our family or close friends have young adult children who are facing significant mental health problems. It seems that anxiety, depression and a general sense of young people and children not being able to cope is widespread in our...
Look into my eyes
by Kathryn Daniels, speech pathologist, and Michael Hawton, child and family psychologist. Between the two us, we have had over 60 years of clinical experience in speaking with parents and seeing young children in child health settings. Recently, we were chatting at... 
